Pure Panda-Monium: R-Rated Comic Movies Will Never Sell!

I’d sing you more, but anything further means we would have to cut a sizable check to Tevin Campbell, and frankly, I think he needs to earn it!

I felt it fitting to add in a throwback song that achieved massive radio play, because, as many of us saw, Deadpool made such excellent use out of songs from multiple eras, and did so quite efficiently and effectively.

That isn’t why we are here though. It’s because of bad words, sex, and just overall a list of things that are awesome. While this isn’t directly about our friend Wade, Fox’s second chance at the character shows us what happens when a studio listens, and you have people behind it who know and love the character.

We live in an era now where comic movies are box office gods. They pretty much all pull in big numbers, some obviously more than others. Most barely in the PG-13 realm and until recently, it’s been a good while since any crossed that “R” threshold, and while Deadpool got the rating, which it desperately needed, it wasn’t as extreme as many expected it to be.

Sure we got some foul language, a few headshots, but, I think we’ve all seen many movies in the past that were far more extreme. Deadpool reeked of 80s awesomeness. Now that there is talk of a Batman Vs Superman directors cut weighing in at R, there have been mixed emotions. Some feel Superman doesn’t belong in a R-Rated world, but, looking back at the pages, there have been times where Clark isn’t exactly mister nice guy.

While I don’t think every comic movie needs to target and R rating, for properties and stories from the past that had darker tones, it is vital to the storytelling. Not every R rated movie is going to pull Deadpool numbers, some have struck a bit of gold before, Blade initially did well for example, and that’s a great example of a property that really should have an R. In a world of vampires who kill to survive that focuses on a hunter who kills vampires, it kind of goes to hell when you pull the rating back to PG, just to potentially put some minors in ticket lines to see a movie.

Look at a character like Tony Stark, they haven’t really got into all of his ups and downs, to really tell Tony’s story effectively as it’s been done in the past, a PG rating really isn’t going to do it justice, I don’t see Marvel turning one of its main faces to an R films(especially with Disney backing), but, it is something that just shouldn’t be exclusively taken off the table. Comics often time reflect things from the era they are in, from civil rights to September 11th, and I think all too often we forget that.

So what do you think? Is there room for R rated comics, or do they need to stay more in touch with a broader demographic, let’s chat in the comments below (Oh, and if you haven’t seen Deadpool, please go, Ryan Reynolds nailed it).